New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz will not pitch in 2023, after all, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo on Monday.
Diaz suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during the World Baseball Classic in March and underwent surgery shortly after. While he was initially deemed to be out for the entire season, the progress during his rehabilitation and his desire to return suggested that he could make his way back to the mound before the end of the season.
Hefner, however, told DiComo that bringing the 29-year-old right-hander would be “too risky.
“I’m not as concerned about the pitching. It’s more about fielding,” he continued. “If we were in a different situation as a team, we would probably push to the point that he’d be pitching in games right now.”
But the Mets are simply playing out the remainder of their schedule after a disappointing season that began with World Series expectations. It was Diaz’s injury that immediately threw a wrench into those aspirations, thinning out a bullpen that already lacked legitimate depth and struggled throughout the year.
Diaz will continue to throw bullpen sessions and will be ready for the start of the 2024 season.
